WO1998019284A3 - Traffic law enforcement system having decoy units - Google Patents

Abstract

A traffic law enforcement system (18) having one or more enforcement units (20) and decoy units (22), and an engagement mechanism (24) corresponding to each enforcement unit and decoy unit. The enforcement units are capable of vehicle speed detection (30) and identification to enable enforcement of the speed limits by subsequent ticketing. The decoy units have an external appearance substantially indistinguishable from an enforcement unit. Both decoy units and enforcement units are preferably positioned in prominent, highly-visible locations throughout a traffic flow area. The engagement mechanism enables the substitution of enforcement units for decoy units, and vice versa. This enables routine and random exchanging of decoy units and enforcement units which increases the difficulty of a driver discriminating between enforcement units and decoy units, decreasing the number of enforcement units required in the system, and, therefore, the cost of the entire system. The invention provides a means of helping reduce the speed of drivers to safe limits while enabling more effective and safer enforcement of the traffic ordinances by requiring less police interaction and the dedication of fewer police resources, such as police cars and related enforcement equipment. Such a system will play an important role in permitting municipalities to dedicate police resources to the enforcement of more serious criminal laws, or, alternatively, to reduce the municipalities' traffic law enforcement costs.